Trying to Keep Native Orchids in the Garden
Right from the start, I have to warn you that this is not recommended!
As most of us know, the native Canadian orchids are terrestrial herbs that go dormant during the winter. Two of the most common ones, having circumpolar distribution are Cypripedium with several species and Calypso bulbosa. There are also Tway Blades (Listera), Ladies’ Tresses (Spiranthes), Rattlesnake Plantain (Goodyera) and some saprophytic ones like Phantom Orchids (Cephalanthera austinae), Coral Root Orchids (Corallorhiza) and several others. The locally common yellow Lady Slipper Orchid (Cypripedium calceolus and others species closely related) is a fairly robust plant, growing 30 - 40 cm high; the yellow flowers can be 10 cm across and smell like roses. The much smaller rosy Calypso bulbosa grows only about 15 cm tall, blooms between April – May, having one small leaf per plant and starts its dormancy in the summer.
Some people have successfully transplanted some Cypripediums into their gardens, when the wild plants came from very nearby to save them from “Road Improvements”. Please, do not try to even save the Calypsos – they will never make it away from their homes. You may have a slim chance to help wild orchids survive if they come from an area that is very close to your garden. Do not try to establish wild Canadian orchids in your yard when they come from climates and habitats different from your particular area. Our gardens are not natural environments – they have been disturbed and manipulated for years. The wild orchids need their natural ecosystem in which they have evolved over millennia. Move them away from their homes and they will die; they may perhaps linger for a few years, but will not stay for long. This goes particularly for the saprophytic plants – please do leave them alone!
There are many wild orchids in our country, in bogs, in mountain meadows, in ditches, in dry shrubby grounds, in cow pastures, in forest clearings – wherever you see them, admire them, take photos but please: DON’T DIG THEM UP! You can read about them on the internet and I have found a few books very useful:
The Orchids of British Columbia, by A.F. Szczawinsky (BC Provincial Museum Publ.)
Orchids of Oregon, by Rick Burian et al. (Oregon Orchid Societies Publ.)
The nice thing about these three publications is that they have distribution maps.
Ingrid Schmidt-Ostrander - Canadian Orchid Congress